Shifter Problems

I have read a few articles on the net about adjusting the plate forward and to the right to lock out reverse and also undertaked a search on here to answer this. My problem is that the car is fitted with a short shift kit (empi, plastic) I cannot seem to lock out reverse. Also first and second can be a bugger to select at times. I noticed that someone here took the short shift kit out as they had problems as well. If it turns out that them problem is not at the shifter end where else could it be. I have replaced the shift rod bush and the coupling at the rear and still having the same problem

is the bush in the tunnel still in ok nick? check that.

I had an empi quickshift in a beetle and it was fine. BTW, how thick is your gearstick? if it's the early skinny style you're gonna have all sorts of problems. You need the stick that is about 12-15mm in shaft dia.

Bush in the tunnel is brand new. I shall go out and measure the diameter of the gearstick in the morning. I do know that the base of the shifter is diamond shaped with flat ends and seems to have a larger surface area than earlier types which seem more rounded at the ends.

the ball bit should slip down onto the shaft snuggly where it goes over the top of the old one.

The shortshift kits can be an absolute terror. Because of the amount of force on them, they can easily drift during use. The shift plate thing is hard to get lined up with the shortshift kit. I ended up giving up and pulling it out.

When the shortshift is pulled back out, do your gears work right?

I have considered seeing if my shortshift fits the van.

Duno what car you got but it sounds like a beetle. I had the same problem with locking reverse out. Ended up my shift plate was round the wrong way. The odd side should be to the right. http://www.acvw.com/article.asp?DetailID=38

you are moving the shift plate away from the gear you are having trouble selecting. Hope this helps.

Yes it's a 73 super. I took the short shift kit out last night. Fixed all the problems. I don't think I will ever use one again.

I run a short shift kit and have had only one probelm in 5 years with it in. First time it took a few hours over a few days to get it right, now only 10mins. Just try again, and slowly work your way through it.